Some display devices create an image by scanning a beam of varying intensity across a display surface. For example, in cathode ray tubes (CRTs), an electron beam is scanned across a surface in a row and column pattern. Further, some projection display devices scan a light source across a surface in a row and column pattern. In these display devices, the beam intersects each pixel location as it paints the image row by row. The intensity of the scanned beam is then modulated as it passes over each display pixel location.
Some display devices may scan a beam in a trajectory that does not exactly coincide with rows and columns. For example, a projection display may scan a beam in a non-linear pattern such as a sinusoidal pattern. Non-linear beam trajectories cause the beam to traverse portions of the image that have no underlying pixel data, because there is no guarantee that a beam in a non-linear trajectory will intersect each point at which a pixel exists.